Lifeboat



July 26, 1949.

C- D. SEAHOLM LIFEBOAT Filed Oct. 29, 1945 Y .M E N m m s T m m0. 5 a w Patented July 26, 1949 STAT ES PATENT OFFICE PI EBY Casimir D. Seaholm, San Francisco, Calif. Application October 29, 1945, Serial No. 625,350

3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in boats and has particular reference to improve-. ments in the construction of life boats, skifis, barges, and boats of like character.

The principal object of the invention is the production of boats of the character described wherein. pontoons are employed to prevent boats from capsizing and to soconstruct the pontoons and sides of the boat that access may be readily had irom the interior of the boat to the pontoons and to the provisions of various characters that are stored in the pontoon.

A further object of the invention is toprovide the base of the pontoon with longitudinally extending rollers to thus permit a lateral sliding of the boat and a consequent easy handling and storage of the boat on the decks of ships, wharves, or the like.

A further object of the invention is the production of a boat with improvements of the character described that embody the featur of being water-tight and that are simple in construction, economical to manufacture, strong, durable, and highly eflicient and serviceable in use.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent during the course of the following description. In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a boat constructed in accordance with my invention,

Fig. 2 is a side view of a fragment of the disclosure of Fig. 1, illustrating to advantage one of the hinged metal panels that opens inwardly, I

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section through the boat, the view being taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 and disclosing the means employed to obtain access to the interior of the pontoon and the provisions stored therein, and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of one of the panels disclosing the means for retaining the same in a closed locked position relative to the shell of the boat and the manner in which a water-tight connection is realized.

In the accompanying drawing wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, the numeral 5 designates a boat of the usual type employed in the construction of life boats, which boat is equipped with a keel 6, while the numeral 1 indicates a pair of pontoons of substantially semi-circular configuration that are constructed of metal such as thin metal and are hollow to provide the necessary buoyancy. It is obvious that the stream- (cit-s) lined effect of the pontoons, as illustrated, will offer little resistance to the movement of the boat, while the buoyancy of the pontoons will effectively resist any tendency of the boat to capsize in a rough sea.

It will be noted that each pontoon is provided with a side guard rail 8, and a longitudinally extending roller 9 supported in a bracket l0 equipped with bushings II in which the roller rides. This construction is illustrated to advantage in'Figs. 1 and 3 and by virtue of the employment of the same the boat can be readily moved laterally and can be conveniently stored on the deck of a ship.

It is the object of the present invention not only to employ the pontoons for the purpose of buoyancy and to also utilize the space in the hull of pontoons to store necessary provisions therein, and to effect this construction the sides of the shell are cut away and openings thus provided whereby access can be obtained from the interior of the boat to the pontoons, which pontoons are welded as at I2 to the shell 5.

To eifect a closing of the opening I propose to utilize a pair of side panels indicated as a whole by the numeral l3. Each panel is of a substantially rectangular configuration and includes an upper rail M, a bottom or lower rail l5, and side rails 16 that are connected to the upper and lower rails. It will be noted that the lower rail l5 has spaced hinges I! secured thereto and that the bottom of said hinges are welded or otherwise secured as at l8 to the shell of the boat. For the purpose of detachably securing the upper rail I4 of the panel to the shell, I employ spaced threaded studs [9 that are welded to the shell and pass through openings 20 provided in the upper rail M, which studs are adapted to threadedly receive thereon butterfly nuts 2 I. To assure in the construction that there will be an absolute water-tight connection between the panels and the shell, a substantially rectangular shaped gasket 22, as illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 2 and in section in Figs. 3 and 4, is employed. This gasket may be either cemented or otherwise secured to the shell or can optionally be secured in the panel.

It will be obvious from the description herein recited that when it is desired to obtain access to the interior of either of the pontoons, it will only be necessary to remove the nuts 2| from the studs 2!) and the panels can be readily manually moved from the full line position of Fig. 2 to the dotted line position of this figure. Conversely,

, when it is desired to close the opening between the pontoon and the interior of the boat the panel is again locked in its full line position of Fig. 3. Spaced knobs 23 are secured to the panel to facilitate the opening of the same.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and that various changes relative to the shape, size, material, and arrangement or parts may be readily resorted to without'departing from the spirit of the invention'or the scope of the subjoined claims. v

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A life boat comprising a pair of hollow pone toons positioned on the opposite sides of the shell of the boat and capable of holding provisions therein, the sides of the boat havingiopenings therein to define passageways between the inside of the boat and said pontoons, and a pair of panels serving as closures for the openings, each or s id panels. havin amrtio thereof hingedly secured to a part of. the shel dire t be ow the Qnenin and detaeh bly secured to the h llfirectly above the opening 2. A life boat comprising a pair of, hollowsemie circular p nto ns posit on d on; the oppos t sides of the shellof'theboat and capab r he dlne provisions hereimthe sid s f the at having openings. therein to define passageways between the inside oi theboat and said P ntoons, apair of panels serving as closures for the openings, each of said panels being of a flat rectangular configuration and having a portion thereof sageways from the interior of the boat to the pontoons, closure means for the openings comprising panels positioned over the shell openings, and means depending from the keel to permit a" lateral rollingof the boat on a deck or like s rf ce,

CASIMIR D. SEAHOLM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references: are oi record in the file of this patent;

likjsrAresrems'rs. I Date Number Name" @2241 Weston; July 30; 1867 1,611,835 Wallisy Sept. 2, 1913 FQREIGN. earners Number Country Date ZIQAQO Great Britain u 13, 82? 

